Profiled by Ken Carman for The Professor
“Brutal?†Ah: no.
Small rock bubbles with a little pillow. Head dies fairly fast. A hazy gold, about a 10.
Mouthfeel: some caramel malt, but way in the background. Pale malt dominates. A Glacier-hop-like bitter with little flavor is on the top.
Aroma: sweet, somewhat citrus with caramel malt more in the aroma. The balance between the two is about perfect, but just in the aroma.
Taste is a bit watery with hop bitter dominate. No flavor, for the most part, just bitter. This misses “IPA†on a few marks, but it would help if they hadn’t called it “BRUTAL.†While an IPA is hoppy, yes, hop flavor absent with malt so far in the background makes mouthfeel and flavor both seem almost absent. That’s a problem: IPA should be more than just bitter, and a somewhat watery background. As it warms it improves some with body expressing itself a tad. Still seems almost brittle in bitter.
Beer Advocate… a 90? Wow. 97 on both style and overall.
Hate to bust the bubble here, but all that having been typed, doesn’t deserve a 2, but certainly not a 4. About mid-3 range is about right.
Welcome to the PGA beer rating system: one beer “Don’t bother.” Two: Eh, if someone gives it to you, drink. Three: very good, go ahead and seek it out, but be aware there is at least one problem. Four: seek it out. Five: pretty much “perfecto.”
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